Seeds of Doubt
by SilverLunarStar
Summary: One-Shot! 'Was he worth it' she wondered. 'What if she didn't understand' he pondered. Part of The Garden 'Verse. Post-Girl the Fireplace.


**Seeds of Doubt**

_By: SilverLunarStar_

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**Disclaimer:** _*Steals rights to DW, is caught then, thankfully, let off with a warning* Darn it. I don't own it._

**Author's Notes:** _This is a late birthday present to if-you-see-alie on LJ. Happy Birthday!_

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"Leave me alone Mickey!"

"Look Rose, I know you don't-" He cut off abruptly as he took the next turn and met an empty hallway. There were no doors on the walls. Looking at the ceiling suspiciously he went back the way he came, remembering the Doctor's warning about getting lost.

* * *

Rose wasn't stupid. She might not have her A-levels, but she knew she didn't need it to prove her intellect. The Doctor had shown her that. He'd obviously shown a lot of people that. She shook her head in frustration. She didn't even know _why_ it was bothering her so much. He was a nine hundred year old alien! Of course he'd had other people traveling with him! Leaning against the door, she waited for the rattling of the doorknob. When it didn't come and she heard the hum of the TARDIS change pitch, she patted the now smooth wall. "Thanks girl." Sighing, she wandered around.

It was obvious that the Doctor had recently gone through something traumatic when she first met him. Well, maybe not that obvious. At the beginning, she thought him nothing more than a leather jacket-wearing madman (a _gorgeous_ leather jacket-wearing madman, but that was beside the point) who turned out to be an alien who traveled across time and space in a blue box. Finding out his world, his _people_, were gone cemented it for her. This lonely man would be lonely no more. She hadn't realized it at the time, but she was slowly starting to fall for him. When it finally hit her, when she knew she'd do anything for him, she promised she'd never leave him. But…

Was he worth getting her heart broken?

Was he worth the monsters?

She turned and there stood her now pinstriped Doctor, hands stuffed in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.

It wasn't even a question.

* * *

The Doctor grumbled as he searched for his wandering companion. Why couldn't they ever _keep still_? Rose Tyler was the worst one. She was the _queen_ of Wandering Companions. What made it worse was that the TARDIS seemed to be collaborating with her. His ship wouldn't tell him where she was! "Come on, old girl!" he pleaded to the ceiling, but no response came forth.

After he'd brooded a little over Reinette's letter, he had a sudden desperation to be with Rose (well, a higher level of desperation than his everyday just-want-to-bask-in-Rose's-presence). He went to her room, thinking she'd gone to bed after showing Mickey around. When he didn't find her there, he went to the galley to see if he could find her brewing some tea. After the Rose-less galley, he headed to the library. Once he exited from there, the TARDIS started moving the corridors around until he suddenly found himself back in the console room. Apparently, Rose didn't want to be found and the TARDIS was making sure she wasn't. But was she alone or…?

His hearts clenched at the thought of her and Mickey-the-Idiot. They'd ended their relationship not too long ago, that he was certain of (okay, he might have _accidentally_ heard their conversation just before New Year's Eve), but what if… He'd only been gone for five and a half hours, hadn't he? The TARDIS finally hummed to reassure him of the time. Were five and a half hours enough for Rose to think he wasn't coming back? To think she should stay with old reliable?

While he'd been stuck in France for an hour at most, waiting for Reinette to finish calming the court and sending them off their merry way, all he could think about was Rose. He knew she understood why he had to come, but that didn't make leaving her hurt any less. Maybe Rose thought he was pushing her away and she'd decide she had enough of him, of their adventures? He wasn't. He really wasn't. Outside the chippy, just after meeting Sarah Jane after all these centuries, he'd tried to make Rose understand what being with him would mean. How much it'd hurt him after she was gone. He'd almost told her the truth of everything, but it just wasn't the time. He had to make her understand. When she stood back after he climbed on Arthur, with a look of understanding (and some resignation), he knew she did. This was him. A Time Lord, having to put everything before the one he cared for most. What if he was too late, though, and she also realized she wanted nothing to do with him anymore? Needing some comfort, he made his way to the garden room.

The door appeared in the following corridor and he suddenly realized where she was.

He approached her from behind and when she turned around, their eyes connected and all doubts suddenly fled.

Understanding, loyalty, and…an emotion he was still unable to name yet even in his mind, no matter how much he knew it was there, no matter how much he himself _felt_ it, reflected in her eyes.

It was an unspoken promise of forever.

There was no doubt about it.

* * *

_I'm very happy with this one. I hope you all are too!_

_Cheers,_

_~*Eli_


End file.
